South Carolina earns third straight trip to College World Series

COLUMBIA - Ray Tanner had to explain to his 6-year-old daughter the process of making it to the College World Series.

He said she's been telling him for weeks that she wanted to go back to Omaha, Neb.

Tanner told her you have to win to get there.

She started to understand, then and asked if the family could still go if USC doesn't earn a trip there.

Tanner's response? "No."

His team, however, didn't disappoint the Tanner family.

South Carolina needed two days to complete a deciding game in the super regional against Oklahoma, but the Gamecocks won their 21st consecutive NCAA tournament game, 5-1, Monday to advance to their third straight CWS after beginning SEC play 1-5 back in March.

"I'm kind of at a loss for words," Tanner said. "To be able to get a chance to continue to play after kind of the way we started, you start reflecting back throughout the season. It didn't start out exactly like we had wanted, but we were a pretty good team. We stayed the course. We were resilient."

The Gamecocks (45-17) will defend their back-to-back national championships when they head to Omaha for the 11th time in school history. It's the second time Tanner's taken the program there three consecutive times.

"It's not something you take for granted," Tanner said about reaching Omaha again. "It's just one of those things, you're just very, very grateful. You're at a university that has great support and resources and fans. Players come here and good things happen and you get a chance to play at the end of the year."

His team will do just that, thanks to a mixture of fresh and familiar faces.

Freshman Tanner English made big plays Monday, going 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored.

Matt Price was one of the veterans who continued to thrive under pressure, pitching the final three innings of shut-out baseball and allowing two hits while striking out four. His 41st career save tied the SEC all-time record.

"We couldn't be where we are today without those (young) guys and they couldn't be where they are today without our older guys," Tanner said.

"We're not a great team. We struggle some offensively, but we pitch it and catch it pretty good most of the time. It's just been a situation where we've played some good baseball at the right time."

The weather wasn't as consistent. With USC up one game to none on Oklahoma (42-25), the two played 5.5 scoreless innings Sunday night and were delayed twice by rain.

The second stoppage pushed the rest of Game 2 to Monday; an OU win would have meant a third game later that night with a wet forecast looming.

"We didn't want them to get on the board first," English said. "I felt that if we got on the board first, we got the momentum swinging our way, got the fans into the game, it would really help us out. It did."

USC got going in the seventh when Connor Bright led off with a double to the right-field corner.

English laid down a bunt that first baseman Evan Mistich fielded and threw over the third baseman's head, scoring pinch-runner TJ Costen on the error and giving USC a 1-0 lead.

English ended up on second, and after being sacrificed to third, he scored on a wild pitch by OU reliever Steven Okert (9-8) to go up 2-0.

"You need a few breaks along the way and that was a big break for us," Tanner said.

OU answered right back in the bottom half after back-to-back walks put runners at first and second with no outs. On a hit-and-run that went awry, USC catcher Dante Rosenberg gunned down Jack Mayfield at third base.

Mistich was able to hit an RBI single to right to get the Sooners within a run, but Price limited the damage.

USC added three runs in the eighth, starting with an RBI bunt single by English with runners at second and third. Chase Vergason followed with a shot to the left-center gap to score two more on the double.

"These guys have done one heck of a job," Tanner said. "There's no doubt about it. We just battled hard and were able to win."

Sunday's rain ruined what was a pitching duel early in the game. USC's Colby Holmes and Jonathan Gray had allowed a combined four hits Sunday night.

Tyler Webb (6-1) got the win in relief, allowing OU's only run of super regional; the Sooners were just 9-for-59 against the Gamecocks.

USC will now turn its attention to Omaha, where it'll face SEC foe Florida in their first CWS game Saturday at 9 p.m.